Supernova wheels

[BadX]

Has anybody upgraded their steel wheels to aluminum?

[SlimTim]

Hello BadX,

I have purchased some used Alcoa wheels to put on my 6400 but I have not had them installed yet. Is there something in particular you are wanting to know?

[LTC_R]

Where did you find a set? If you don't mind, how much did it cost? I'd love to do it, but right now timing just isn't right.

[SlimTim]

Hey Brian,

You can get used wheels from most any Big Truck Wrecking Yard or off of eBay. They are a standard and very common 22.5x8.25 rim. You will only need 4 as you don't typically replace the inner rear rim. If you do replace both the inner and outer rear rims be mindful you may need longer wheel studs. Two aluminum rims are much thicker than two steel or a steel and an aluminum.

Cost for used 22.5x8.25 rims start around $125.00ea. You can also buy new rims (non Alcoa) for $200.00ea off of eBay. Unless you have a bunch of free time, an orbital sander, and a bunch of sandpaper I would purchase new rims vs. used. I probably have 20 plus hours of labor and a couple hundred $$ in sandpaper, polish, aluminum cleaner and dust masks invested in my used rims trying to get them to look good. They still are not perfect but I got tired of working on them and being covered in aluminum dust. Unless the prior owner took really good care of the rims, used rims will have pitting and this pitting is extremely difficult to sand out of the rim - it sucks.

I hope your engine replacement was successful and you are pleased with the performance.

[LTC_R]

Thanks for the feedback on the wheels. I don't have the patience to sand and buff like it sounds you had to do. With the engine work, I think I will need to wait a bit before I make the leap to aluminum wheels.

Took a lot of time considering options and the engine is in, finished about 2 weeks ago, but I haven't picked it up yet. I plan to get it later this week. I will post the final tally and parts list on the post with the engine thread. Ended up putting a different rear end gear ratio in, being done this week, so I will let everyone know how it ended up. Thanks again.

[BadX]

I bought a set of 6 from Raney's Truck parts. I just got around to calling about having them installed and the truck service center I called said, sure thing no problem....but then we ran into a problem. He said DOT requires three full turns of the lugs to hold the wheels on. The new wheels are just over a 1/2" thicker than the original steel wheels and that is how much extra lug is on the front and even less on the rear. So again, they said no problem, we can change the studs out. This shop charges $110 a hour labor on doing something like that. They didn't have an estimate because they weren't sure how long it would take but I figured it would take at least a hour to hour and half per wheel so figuring 4 sets of wheels lugs at 1.5 hour the cost was going to be in the $600-900 range to just do the studs, then it was $40 per wheel to demount and mount the tires and then $15 per wheel to balance with either beads or weights. So it became a very costly project very quickly. I am trying to send the wheels back to Raney's but if not I'll have 6 brand new (non polished) RV wheels for sale if anybody would be interested.

[BadX]

Raney's took the wheels back...minus shipping of course but they are out of my way and I'll make sure the next RV has aluminum wheels on it.

[SlimTim]

BadX - after reading your thread I did some measuring and did some investigating. I was not able to find anything from the DOT about the number of turns or minimum stud penetration through the stud. The only thing I found stated the nuts must be tight, no cracked rims, no elongated holes and etc. I also looked online and found a great deal of information but this one seemed to make sense to me:

Proper Thread Engagement. This is critically important. Make sure you have a minimum thread engagement of the diameter of the vehicle stud (as recommended by SAE). An example is, if the stud size of your vehicle is ½” then you will need a minimum of ½” of threads into the lug nut.

After doing some measuring on my 6400 I can say with confidence the front studs will meet the criteria above. Per my calculation there will be approx. 2 threads sticking out past the end of the lug nut. However the back studs "may" be to short (this is with a steel inner and an aluminum outer) so longer studs may be required. I say "may be required" because I do not have a loose lug nut to see where the threads start vs. the height/length of the lug nut.

I should state that I have Alcoa aluminum rims and they may be thinner or thicker than other brands in the hob area.

[bhplumber]

SlimTim,
Let me know how your wheel adventure goes. From what I've read Alcoa wheels are thicker then most others on the market. If we get the deal closed on a "new to us" 6331 next week wheels are on my list of upgrades.

[SlimTim]

Going to install my Aluminum wheels this Wednesdays. A friend and I installed the new longer rear studs Saturday. It took us about 2 hours total time, but 30min of this was spent trying to get the original wheel cover off of the passenger side. The wheel cover sheet metal was stuck on the threads of the retaining studs and it would not come off. If you decide to put the aluminum wheels on your Supernova make sure you locate a shop that has the proper tools. If they have the correct tools they should be able to replace all the studs on the rear axle in less than two hours. if they are quoting you more time I would look for another shop. To make sure I ordered the correct replacement studs, I got one new stud from International so I new what was currently on the chassis. Once I had this I just ordered new studs that were longer by approx. 7/8". The new studs were just over $5.00ea from an online store and the total with shipping came to approx.$108.00.

I ended up taking four of my rims (they were used from a wrecking yard) and having them polished. The rims look really good and I can't wait to have them installed. I will post some pictures as soon as they are on the Supernova.

[SlimTim]

Aluminum wheels are on the Supernova. The stock front studs are protruding past the end of the lug nut by one to two threads. Some people say you want three or more threads protruding past the lug nut, but one or two is good enough for me. As long as the lug nut is fully engaged on the stud I don't see why you would need an abundance of threads sticking out past the lug nut.

I can't get the lug nut covers off on the rear so I don't know how much of the stud is sticking out past the lug nut. I will work on getting one off over the next day or two and measure it.


I will take some photos and post them soon.

[SlimTim]

One thing I did notice vary quickly after taking off the stock wheel covers is a reduction in squeaks and other noise coming from outside (and inside) the RV. I thought I had a cab retaining bolt coming loose but apparently it was a front wheel cover making all the noise. Now that the wheel covers a gone its perfectly quite when driving slow with the widows down. I did the swap because I like the looks so the reduced noise is a bonus.

[SlimTim]

I am selling the 22.5 wheel simulators if anybody is interested. The price and a photo is posted in the for sale section of this site.

Tim